Caring dad perishes in motor vehicle crash

Relatives of Roy Smith, 62, who died in a motor vehicle crash in St Elizabeth on Saturday, have been left devastated and in a state of disbelief.

Smith's daughter, Ashley, told THE STAR that her mother is especially taking it very hard.

"It is only the two of them that use to live together so we have to be there for her right now," she said. "His death is giving us (the children) a really hard time because we were all close to our dad, both the children here in Jamaica and those abroad." Reports are that sometime after 12:55 p.m., Smith was driving his Toyota motor car on the Hodges Road, when the car started to skid on gravel in the roadway. He lost control of the vehicle and collided with a truck travelling in the opposite direction.

Ashley recalled her conversation with her dad about two hours before his death. She revealed that he routinely checked on all his children to ensure they were in good standing.

"I told him that I was good and I was gonna do my hair and come to see him next week Friday for my mother's birthday," she told THE STAR. He checks up on all of his children every single morning, whether call, text or send voice notes on WhatsApp because he is into WhatsApp." Ashley said her dad portrayed all the attributes that configures a good father.

"My dad was someone you can depend on, you just know he will reach out to find out if his children are OK. When he calls, and if we are not up, he will say 'the sun is out now, it's time to get out of bed'," she said

Ashley was miles away from her parents' home in Farm, Westmoreland, when she heard the news about her father.

"I heard he was in an accident but I didn't know if he died or anything so I rushed to Westmoreland from Montego Bay hoping that it would have been just a broken leg or something. But when I reach down, I realise it was my worse fear and I broke down in tears," she said.

"It is so hard to talk about how I feel right now, I have no words to express," her brother Kenroy added. Smith's niece, Ameece Johnson, said she will always remember her uncle to be a genuine and loving soul.

"He was the head of the family since my grandmother passed a while back and he was so good at it because we could always depend on him for support," said Johnson.